On March 4, 2025, the hacker responsible for the Bybit exploit successfully laundered all 499,395 ETH, amounting to $1.04 billion at current market rates, primarily through THORChain (Source: Crypto Rover, X post, March 4, 2025). This significant event triggered immediate market reactions, with ETH experiencing a sharp decline of 3.2% within the first hour, dropping from $2,089 to $2,021 by 10:30 AM UTC (Source: CoinGecko, March 4, 2025). Concurrently, trading volumes for ETH surged by 150% to reach 1.2 million ETH traded in the same hour, indicating heightened market activity and concern (Source: CoinMarketCap, March 4, 2025). The hacker's use of THORChain for laundering also led to a temporary increase in RUNE's trading volume by 80%, from 2.5 million RUNE to 4.5 million RUNE by 11:00 AM UTC (Source: TradingView, March 4, 2025). Additionally, the exploit's impact was felt across multiple trading pairs, with ETH/BTC and ETH/USDT pairs seeing increased volatility and trading volumes (Source: Binance, March 4, 2025). On-chain metrics showed a spike in large transactions, with over 100 transactions exceeding 1,000 ETH within the first two hours post-announcement (Source: Etherscan, March 4, 2025).

The laundering of such a large amount of ETH through THORChain has significant trading implications. Immediately following the news, stop-loss orders for ETH were triggered, exacerbating the price drop. At 10:45 AM UTC, the ETH/BTC pair saw a 2.5% decrease, moving from 0.052 to 0.0507 BTC per ETH (Source: Binance, March 4, 2025). This event also led to increased volatility in other major cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin experiencing a 1.8% decline to $40,200 by 11:00 AM UTC (Source: CoinGecko, March 4, 2025). The spike in ETH trading volumes, reaching 1.4 million ETH by 11:30 AM UTC, suggests a rush to liquidate positions and a potential increase in short-selling activities (Source: CoinMarketCap, March 4, 2025). The increased trading volume in RUNE also indicates speculative trading around THORChain's involvement in the laundering process, with the RUNE/USDT pair seeing a 5% increase in price to $5.25 by 11:15 AM UTC (Source: TradingView, March 4, 2025). On-chain metrics further revealed an increase in whale activity, with over 500 addresses moving more than 100 ETH within three hours of the announcement (Source: Etherscan, March 4, 2025).

Technical indicators for ETH post-exploit showed a bearish divergence on the 1-hour chart, with the RSI dropping from 62 to 48 within the first two hours, signaling a potential further decline (Source: TradingView, March 4, 2025). The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) also indicated a bearish crossover at 11:00 AM UTC, further supporting the bearish outlook (Source: TradingView, March 4, 2025). The trading volume for ETH continued to rise, reaching 1.6 million ETH by 12:00 PM UTC, indicating sustained market interest and potential for further price movements (Source: CoinMarketCap, March 4, 2025). The ETH/BTC pair's trading volume increased by 120%, reaching 25,000 BTC traded by 12:30 PM UTC, highlighting the pair's significance in the market's response to the exploit (Source: Binance, March 4, 2025). On-chain data showed a decrease in active addresses, dropping from 500,000 to 450,000 within three hours of the announcement, suggesting a cautious approach by smaller investors (Source: Etherscan, March 4, 2025).